Andrew Skurka
(inset) was
in Kalamazoo on
Saturday, April
14, sharing with
an appreciative
audience of
around 130
people his
experiences
spending six
months hiking by
himself for a
distance of
4,700 miles
around the outer
reaches of
Alaska.
The program
Saturday
afternoon took
place in Dalton
Auditorium on
the Kalamazoo
College campus.
Some 83 people
had attended
Andrew's program
the previous
evening at
Western Michigan
University.

Andrew displays a map
showing the route he
followed in his nearly
4,700 mile trek in
Alaska and the Canadian
Yukon.

Andrew Skurka back
in Chief Noonday country: A native of
Massachusetts and now based in Colorado,
Andrew Skurka has managed to
make what many would consider a dream
career out of doing something he
obviously loves doing. Which is hiking and
backpacking more miles in more places
than most people could even imagine, and
then writing about his experiences and
traveling to all sorts of places to
share his adventures, his experience,
and his hard-earned wisdom about how to
get it all done.

An accomplished adventurer and athlete,
this man has backpacked, skied and
pack-rafted more miles than I daresay
most people have flown
intercontinentally — the equivalent
of 1.2 times around the Earth's equator,
I learned from
his
Web site.

He is best known for long-distance solo
backpacking treks, including spending
seven months doing a 6,875 mile trek
over what he named the Great Western
Loop, and his eleven-month 7.775
mile trek on the Sea to Sea Route
from Quebec Province to Cape Alava in
Olympic National Park, Washington.

Pack-rafting in
Alaska. Wonder who
took this picture and
how....

This latter
trek was where Chief Noonday Chapter
first got to know Andrew as he
hiked our stretch of the North
Country National Scenic Trail in the
winter time at his usual stunning Skurka
pace — typically 30 or more miles in a
day. Did I mention that the man is
an athlete?

The focus of
his programs during this visit to
Western Michigan University and
Kalamazoo College was his 4,679 mile
expedition along a great loop path
through Alaska and the Canadian Yukon
done between mid-March and early
September 2010. His lecture was
accompanied by stunning images and
compelling video.

This was my second time hearing
Andrew's presentation, having caught
it last year at the NCTA National
Conference in Dayton. I still was
spellbound hearing again about his
experiences — not only what he did and
the incredible places he saw and the
experiences he had with the "natives"
(the caribou, the grizzlies, the bugs,
and other denizens of this vast wild
region), but the feelings and emotions
he had to deal with, traveling mostly
alone, entirely dependent on his own
personal wit, wisdom and courage —
for 176 days. It blows me
away.

Nobody had ever done
it before: Hike,
ski, and raft 4,679
miles through eight
national parks,
dozens of mountain
ranges, and the
length of the Yukon
territory.
Then along came
Andrew Skurka.
(National
Geographic)

Andrew demonstrates
one option for sleeping
comfort that complies
with ultralight
requirements.

On
Saturday evening Andrew
gave a workshop at Lee's
Adventure Sports in Portage,
his Backpacking: Ultimate
Gear & Skills Clinic,
attended by more than 70
interested parties including
Lee's staffers, Chief Noonday
members, and many others.

Andrew is known for his
minimalist ultralight approach
to backpacking — which probably
helps account for how fast and
how long the man can move
on the trail.

The
Webmaster looks a tad
dumbfounded after
winning the door prize
of a gift certificate
for gear from Lee's
Adventure Sports.
Thanks to Skip Lee
for making this happen!
(Photo by Christi of
Lee's Adventure Sports
staff)

But
as Andrew emphasized both
in this clinic and in his
earlier presentations, careful,
meticulous, thorough planning
is essential to
successfully pulling off
ultralight backpacking.
This is not a situation
where you can make it up as you
go along. Andrew displayed
slides illustrating the way he'd
commandeered his mother's living
room and kitchen laying out all
his gear and food during the
intricate planning process.

Coming as my brother and I do
from a more "everything but the
kitchen sink" philosophy of "be
prepared for any
eventuality" backpacking, I was
intrigued by Andrew's
techniques, although feeling
somewhat like a dinosaur too.
I rued the 50 lb packs I'd
lugged on the Jordan River and
High Country Pathways years ago
with my brother, who didn't even
weigh his pack because he
didn't want to know. Andrew's 22
lb pack sounded amazing.

Chief Noonday Chapter president
Larry Pio and his helpers
deserve major kudos for pulling
off a great event for Andrew
Skurka's visit to Chief
Noonday Country. Thanks to
all involved. And thanks
to Andrew for a great
visit and a great experience.

Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter

Backpacking:
Ultimate Gear & Skills
Clinic:
Those who came for
Andrew's workshop
not only learned a lot
but found they also had
a lot to unlearn!

Trail
Town in the making?
The Village of Middleville
in Barry County could become one
of the first (if not
the first) North
Country Trail Town in
Michigan if a team of committed
Chief Noonday Chapter members
have their way.

The North Country National
Scenic Trail follows a large
section of the Paul Henry
Thornapple Trail into town
from the south and continues
through the Village and on to
the Middleville State Game
Area northeast of town.

On March 20, Ron and
Linda Sootsman, along with
Jean Lamoreaux, made a
presentation to the
Middleville Downtown Development
Authority board aimed at
promoting the designation of the
Village of Middleville as Chief
Noonday's — and Michigan's —
premier Trail Town.

Ron is CND's
VP/Administration and Linda
is CND's Treasurer.
Jean is also Events
Coordinator for the Village of
Middleville.

According to Andrea Ketchmark,
NCTA's Director of Trail
Development, although the
concept was not
invented by the North
Country Trail, the pilot program
for the NCNST Trail Towns started in Pennsylvania. The
towns of Parker and Wampum are
now official Trail Towns on the
North Country Trail.

Using support materials
generated by the NCTA to promote
the Trail Town concept, Jean,
Ron and Linda
underscored the mutual
advantages afforded to the
Trail, its users, and the
Village as a result of the
approval and implementation of this
designation.

A Trail Town is a
community through
which the North
Country Trail passes
that supports hikers
with services,
promotes the Trail
to its citizens and
embraces the Trail
as a resource to be
protected and
celebrated.

With the endorsement of the
Middleville DDA, next the team
will be presenting the proposal
to the Village Council on April
3.

In addition to Middleville,
Chief Noonday Chapter's section
of the North Country National
Scenic Trail passes through
the Cities
of Albion, Marshall and Battle
Creek, the Villages of Homer and Augusta, and the hamlets of
Ceresco and Prairieville.
However, simply
being on the Trail is not
enough for a town to qualify as
a Trail Town. The concept
entails a mutual, active commitment
between a town and the Trail to
work together in a symbiotic
relationship that significantly
benefits the community of
residents, providers of
services, and all those who use,
tend to, and enjoy the Trail.

Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter

.March 24, 2012

March
madness — stepping out
CND-style:

Winter vs. spring hike in
Kalamazoo:
A hike on March 10 on
the Kalamazoo River
Valley Trail may
have had an early spring
look to it, but
you can tell from the
way these folks are
bundled up that it
definitely didn't have a
spring feel to
it. The
temperatures that day
were moderate for the
time of year, but there
was quite a breeze that
brought with it a chill
factor in the teens.
(From left)
Eric Longman,
Linda and Ron
Sootsman, Jeff
Fleming, Verle
and Charles Krammin,
and (inset)
Bob Sulaski who was
behind the camera for
this picture.
Bob serves as Chief
Noonday's one-man Hike
Committee, planning and
organizing the chapter's
monthly hikes.

At
our March
chapter meeting
we had an "open mike" night
featuring our own members.
(Above)Ron Sootsman
with wife Linda gave a
presentation with pictures and
commentary on the many miles Ron
has hiked on the North Country
Trail in three states.
Bob Sulaski gave a
presentation on Chief Noonday's
grave site in Barry County and
displayed his own handiwork of
several beautiful native
American-style dream catchers.
Cal Lamoreaux gave a
presentation of slides and
commentary on the Manistee River
section of the North Country
National Scenic Trail.

And (left) Chief Noonday
President Larry Pio
presented Ron Sootsman
with his "third annual"
Hiker Challenge Cup for
once again coming in at first
place with 341.6 one-way miles
on the NCNST under his belt — in
one year!

Hiker Challenge 2011 shirts
were also awarded to (from
left)Michael Wilkey,
who came in fourth with 84.3
miles, Mick Hawkins, who
with 34.2 one-way miles didn't
finish in the Top Ten but won
the "at large" drawing, and to
Larry Pio, who came in
second at 114.0 miles.

Our
March workday
was ... different.
Because our scheduled
project at Kimball Pines
fell through due to
factors beyond our
control, we ended up
sort of making the day
up as we went along.
First, a crew of eight stalwarts made short work of
moving the kiosk at
Fort Custer
(Armstrong Road) to
improve its
accessibility from the
Trail. The kiosk
was one of our older and
definitely heavier ones,
but they got the job
done in less than 45
minutes.Previously(left) the kiosk had stood on
the edge of a rapidly
eroding run-off ditch,
and you almost needed
boots and a stepladder
(or binoculars) to read
the stuff on the front
of the kiosk.
The crew was made up of Jeff Fleming, Ron
Sootsman, Bill
Winstanley, Alan
Wiseman, Larry
Pio, Steve
Secrest, Al
Graves, and Bob
Cooley. They
were later joined by
Tom Parker.
From Ft. Custer they went to Augusta Drive
(lower left) and
made repairs on a kiosk
and an old leaning
railroad switch on
display there.
And they concluded the day by heading up the Trail at
Kellogg Biological
Station to clear
some downed trees and
encroaching brush — a
common challenge at KBS.